08 November 2011 - by Beth Stevenson - shephardmedia.com
Saab is anticipating a decision from the UK MoD 'within the next week' on whether its Counter IED Clearance Trainer (CCT) will receive full funding and transition into a ‘core capability’ for the UK.
'Post 2014 counter-IED will be institutionalised' and the Saab system is 'increasing the confidence in the troops involved in C-IED', Alan Roan, Saab senior capability manager for the S&T business area for security and defence, told a media briefing in London on 8 November.
Operational since November 2009, the 'effective' training system for IED identification has received UK treasury funding for 12 months, and is responsible for 'the change in mindset that the UK has'.
Using military pilots as an example, Roan pointed out that they have 'an instinct' when it comes to rapid response during a situation, and the CCT system was doing that 'to train lower level soldiers to have that instinct'.
'You either pass or fail something' in the UK, Roan said, and the CTT is helping 'to change the attitude of the institution'.
Saab has developed a total of five units, consisting of three mobile ones in the UK and two in Afghanistan, which are also lent to Afghan and Danish forces. The company owns the units and contracts them out on a managed service basis, which also includes training from ex-military personnel.
The CTT replicates some of the effects found on the ground during actual missions and includes a special vest that registers and sends information back, as well as simulated explosions.
The system includes COTS technology plus Saab's Multi Detector System (MDS) to measure the effectiveness of training and make personnel learn from it, 'allowing everybody to have a voice'.
It is reliant on GPS and feeds information back into the base system, and 'the objective evidence is shown as a picture' during feedback, which Roan considered to be more convincing to troops when their results are pictured.
Roan identified that the US is an important target market, noting that there had been interest from the DoD and 'the next big push is institutionalising C-IED' in that country.